


Changes in Body, Mind, and Heart

by Shamaru



Category: The LEGO Movie (2014)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-26
Updated: 2020-02-26
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:54:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,277
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22903537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shamaru/pseuds/Shamaru
Summary: Business may have been terrible with all his walls and rules and hatred of Master Builders, but the real threat was his lone human employee. That vicious monster that fought like a cornered hound from Hell and had captured, in most cases single handed, countless Master Builders to lock them up in places unknown. The man that none believed to be entirely human- too powerful and too dangerous for even superheroes to tangle with.Bad Cop.It had taken years of hard work, collaboration, dedication, and sheer luck, but the Master Builders had finally created a weapon guaranteed to put the guard dog down for good. And with the rise of The Special they believed that it was meant to be. The weapon was set up in Cloud Cuckooland, specifically centered in the Dog, to await the day it could be brought out for use.
Kudos: 17





	Changes in Body, Mind, and Heart

**Author's Note:**

> "Pearls in the Sea Like Stars in the Sky" is giving me a hard time here lately, so this was born in a need to write.

Business may have been terrible with all his walls and rules and hatred of Master Builders, but the real threat was his lone human employee. That vicious monster that fought like a cornered hound from Hell and had captured, in most cases single handed, countless Master Builders to lock them up in places unknown. The man that none believed to be entirely human- too powerful and too dangerous for even superheroes to tangle with.

Bad Cop.

It had taken years of hard work, collaboration, dedication, and sheer luck, but the Master Builders had finally created a weapon guaranteed to put the guard dog down for good. And with the rise of The Special they believed that it was meant to be. The weapon was set up in Cloud Cuckooland, specifically centered in the Dog, to await the day it could be brought out for use.

Then the group who’d found The Special had arrived and things had turned out all wrong. The Master Builders instantly lost faith. If The Special wasn’t even one of them then what hope did they have? They began to abandon their cause and flee, but soon the real trouble began.

The relic had smashed through first and flattened buildings and people alike as it rolled and bounced. Then the first wave of flying patrol cars came, dropping robots and firing lasers everywhere. After that Bad Cop himself made his appearance.

Master Builders began to drop like flies. Robots captured some while Bad Cop downed dozens more on his own. All the while the guard dog tracked The Special and his group. Cornering the ragtag team was easy and only Wyldstyle was fully prepared to face him without hesitation, though it did her no good as she only got in one good punch before the cop took her down.

“I’ll say one thing,” he growled while pinning her down, “y’throw a mean punch. But it’s over now.”

“Yeah, for you!” a voice called out from behind them. “Hit it!”

“What the?” Bad Cop barely got his words out, whipping his head around and gasping as his eyes met a burst of bright pink light. 

The beam from the weapon struck him square in the chest and he yowled, pushed back and sent tumbling from the force behind the attack. Cheers went up from the trio of astronauts manning the weapon as Wyldstyle sprang to her feet and raced toward the downed man. There was a split second of him looking up with an utterly terrified and confused expression before the Master Builder’s fist reached him and he crumpled. Wyldstyle looked surprised at first, but quickly brushed it off.

“Can throw a punch, but can’t take one. What do we do with him now?”

Before any opinions could be voiced, the clouds began to rock from an explosion.

“Oh no! They’ve hit our silly cloud stabilizers!” Unikitty cried. “We’re going to sink!”

A short debate rang out between the group, including one of the astronauts who seemed to have joined them, and a submarine began to take form. An equally short debate, mostly voiced by Emmet, had one more very unwanted passenger aboard the craft: the unconscious Bad Cop.

Their getaway was smooth, none of the robots noticing them or the fact that their leader was missing. Wyldstyle had stripped Bad Cop of his radio and chucked it into the ocean and Benny had taken the cop’s blaster for himself. There hadn’t seemed to be a tracker on the man anywhere so the group figured that would be enough.

“Hate to burst your safety bubble,” Batman had grumbled, “but what about when he wakes up? He never needed a laser over his fists.”

“If he wakes up and tries to attack anyone, Benny can shoot him.” Wyldstyle said confidently.

Benny didn’t voice anything against the idea, but he did look uncomfortable about it for a few seconds. Emmet did as well, but then again Emmet didn’t have the blaster so he didn’t entirely count.

Thankfully Bad Cop remained unconscious for the duration of the underwater ride. And when the engine died and an emergency flotation device popped out to guide them to the surface he remained down. Better still was the fact that he continued to stay down after the entire sub was scooped out of the water, shattered on the deck of the Sea Cow, and Metalbeard’s booming voice began to scream at the group for harboring the enemy.

“Look, we don’t like it either, but Emmet just wouldn’t let us leave him behind!” Wyldstlye snarled at the pirate, having had enough of being yelled at.

“He would’ve fallen into the ocean and drowned!” Emmet defended himself with a cry.

“That would’ve solved all our problems!” Metalbeard yelled.

“Uh, guys?” Benny called.

“I don’t want him on board me ship! Toss him overboard or the lot of ye go too!” Metalbeard continued to yell.

“What?! No way!” Emmet yelled in horror.

“Guys?” Benny tried again, this time slightly more urgent.

“Look, he’s got to mean something to Business, right? He’s the only capable attack force against Master Builders. Maybe we could use him as a bargaining chip.” Wyldstyle tried. 

“The smarter thing to do would be to get rid of him entirely. I vote we throw him overboard.” Batman said.

“That’s too mean! Even for a big meanie like him!” Unikitty chimed in.

“Guys!” Benny finally resorted to screaming. It got him the sudden attention he’d been trying to get, every head turning toward him instantly. “He’s waking up!”

As if electrocuted, everyone but Emmet jumped back from the cop as he suddenly lurched into a sitting position. A split second later he’d jumped to his feet, turned toward Benny who stood alone, and rushed the astronaut. Benny squawked and fumbled for the blaster at his hip, but found himself falling to the deck before he could get a grip on the weapon. Fortunately he landed on his backside and no weight landed on top of him. Instead he found that he’d simply been knocked aside as Bad Cop had rushed past him to get to the railing.

The cop clutched at the rope around the edge of the deck and was leaning slightly over it, his knees visibly wobbling as he heaved loudly.

“Well I’ll be.” Metalbeard said quietly. “He’s got no sea legs.”

“Hey. Benny.” Wyldstyle called as quietly as she could to get the man’s attention. “What did that super weapon even do to him? He kinda looks fine aside from the throwing up.”

Benny frowned and shrugged his shoulders. “I have no idea. I never got to work on it and no one actually explained it to me. All I knew was that we were supposed to shoot it at Bad Cop and it would stop him for good.”

A loud groan from the railing caught everyone’s attention and they looked up to see the cop had turned to look back at them. He brushed his knuckles over his lips, still holding tight to the railing with the other hand, and glanced slowly across the group of faces.

“Anyone want t’tell me,” he stopped to swallow hard as another bought of nausea tried to creep up his throat, “what’s going on?”

“Well,” Emmet replied without missing a beat, “Cloud Cuckooland was sinking and I didn’t want you to die, so I convinced the others to take you with us on this awesome sub they built. But then the engine died, but Metalbeard came out of nowhere to rescue us! And then you woke up and started getting sick and now here we are!” He finished with a bright smile. Everyone else either sighed, shook their heads, rolled their eyes, or did all three.

Bad Cop simply stared at everyone before turning back to the railing and vomiting again.

It took a long while for him to stop getting sick, but Bad Cop refused to leave the railing. Which was fine as there was nowhere for him to really go and Metalbeard hadn’t wanted him getting sick in a holding cell below deck. The trouble was when it began to grow dark and some of the group began to nod off. They didn’t want to fall asleep around the cop, weak as he may have seemed.

“I’ll watch him.” Benny volunteered. “I don’t sleep much anyway and I’ve got the gun. I won’t let him leave my sight.” Everyone had taken the astronaut’s word and had drifted into the cabins for the night while he’d walked out to the railing and camped out a good distance away.

Bad Cop’s head lifted from where it had drooped and he watched Benny like a hawk. He’d leaned up against one of the railing posts and Benny wondered how he could even see with his shades still on. Then he wondered if the man’s eyes were even open at all with the way his head bobbed slowly in a display that clearly told how much he was fighting sleep.

“It would be a bad idea to sleep there.” Benny suddenly said, watching the cop jolt up again. “You’ll fall off the ship.”

“...would y’say yes if I asked for a bed?” Bad Cop mumbled almost too quietly to hear.

“No beds on board.” Benny reported. The cop drooped again in disappointment. “But there’s a hammock if you want it.”

Silence stretched between them for several long minutes while they simply watched each other. Finally Bad Cop sighed, turned his head and murmured something, then nodded slightly and stood on shaky legs. Benny moved to help him, but stopped when the cop’s shoulders tensed. He seemed afraid, but that was funny. Master Builders were afraid of Bad Cop, but Bad Cop had never been afraid of Master Builders. Benny chalked it up to being trapped on the boat with so many of them and left it at that. 

He avoided getting close again as he led the cop down to the room that was supposed to be his, slid down to sit with his back against the door, and listened for the other to get into the hammock. It wasn’t long before snoring caught his ears and Benny nodded to himself.

\---

Bad Cop tried to leave the room exactly once during the night only to find that the guard rotation had changed and a vicious looking Wyldstyle had replaced Benny.

He’d smartly closed the door again and went back to sleep.

\---

When next he woke it was to a gentle hand on his arm shaking him awake. His groggy mind didn’t catch up fast enough to let him jerk away from the touch so instead he groaned and weakly swatted at the offender.

“Tired...” he whined. “Le’me sleep...”

A soft chuckle caught his ears. “Metalbeard said to get you up though. He’s got stuff for you to do unless you want to be put in a cell. Oh, and he also said if my way of getting you up doesn’t work then he’s sending Wyldstyle in with a bucket of water.”

Another groan, but this time Bad Cop did roll out of bed. Or he would have had it been an actual bed he’d been laying on. Instead his rolling movement ended up tipping the hammock and depositing him onto the floor with a shout. He lay there for a few moments, trying to figure out what had gone so wrong, before a hand was back on his arm.

“You okay?” 

“Peachy.” He grumbled while pushing himself to his feet.

Looking up gave him a view of The Special standing too close for comfort. The only reason Bad Cop didn’t jump back from him was the lack of danger he felt associated with Master Builders. He still remembered interrogating the man and, though he’d been quick to label The Special as a liar, he didn’t actually believe the other was a Master Builder. Just a guy who’d been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

“So.” Bad Cop grunted. “Someone’s giving me something t’do.” It wasn’t a question, but the other took it as such.

“Yep! You’ll be allowed to stay out of a cell as long as you’re being useful. Is what Metalbeard said.” Emmet explained. “And, I mean, it _is_ his ship so that makes him in charge.”

“Whatever you say, Special. Let’s just get this over with.”

“Emmet.”

Bad Cop paused in turning toward the door. “What?”

“My name’s Emmet.”

The cop hummed, but said nothing. He didn’t want to do the whole ‘get to know you’ thing. He just wanted to get off of the ship, get back to Octan, and get back to doing his job. “Right. Can we just... go already?”

Emmet frowned, but the other was already pulling the door open. Just as he took a step to follow though the cop jumped backward and bumped into him then jumped away from him and tripped over his feet, landing on his backside. Just outside the door stood a surprised Wyldstyle with a bucket in her hands.

“Huh.” She grinned maliciously and set the water filled bucket down. “Jumpy aren’t you?”

“Can it.” Bad Cop growled.

Wyldstyle snorted. “Whatever. You’re up now so you’d better be ready to do some work. Otherwise I get the pleasure of dumping you into the ocean.”

He was getting tired of hearing that.

The three made their way up to the deck where the others were already gathered and Bad Cop fought not to back away when the hulking mechanical pirate stomped up to him. Surprisingly he found a deck brush being thrust toward him and his first instinct was to snatch the item out of his ‘attacker’s’ hand. The action pulled a laugh out of Metalbeard, the sound not entirely unfriendly.

“Eager to work, eh? Good!” the pirate boomed. “’cause me whole deck needs a good scrubbin’! Make sure ye do the job proper or ye’ll do it over until it’s right!” With that said his hands went to his hips and he stared down at the cop with an expectant look on his face.

Bad Cop shifted in place. He held the brush tightly and stared up at the much taller figure. That look was familiar to him, seen on Business’s face all too often. It demanded verbal compliance for giving an order. He clenched his teeth at the thought of addressing a Master Builder as someone in charge of him and opted instead for a simple “Of course.”. It seemed to be enough for the pirate though as his head nodded and he pointed out a bucket of soapy water further away. Bad Cop was left alone after that, though one of the group always seemed to have eyes on him. As long as they left him alone he could ignore the stares.

Scrubbing the deck turned out to be a nightmare, but not because of the work itself. Bad Cop was used to hard work. His entire job was nothing but hard work. Pushing the deck brush around should have been child’s play compared to his usual tasks, but something was wrong. He’d barely begun when his arms started to tire. He pushed through the slow building burning in his muscles, not wanting to show weakness around the enemy, but then his legs began to tremble beneath him. Surely it wasn’t just seasickness causing him to tire so quickly. He’d only scrubbed a few feet of the deck before he felt like he was ready to collapse.

He stopped to lean heavily against the brush, panting as if he’d just run a marathon and feeling sweat drip down one side of his face. What was going on? He let his head hang and just stood like that for several minutes as he tried to catch his breath again. Then he caught sight of something blue in the corner of his eye and he lifted his head to see the astronaut giving him a concerned look.

“You okay? You don’t look so good.” he asked. Genuine concern rang in his words, but that was strange. One shouldn’t worry about one’s enemy after all.

Bad Cop sucked in a few more deep breaths before trying to respond, voice uncharacteristically quiet. “What did y’do t’me?”

Benny looked surprised at that. “Nothing?” 

“Back in that disaster of a realm... What was that weapon? That... that pink laser y’shot me with.” Bad Cop found a little strength returning and stood up straighter. “What did that thing do t’me?”

The astronaut was quiet. His expression slowly went from confusion to calculating to sudden clarity and his eyes popped wide. “Oh!” he suddenly shouted, alerting the others who came over quickly to Bad Cop’s discomfort. “I do remember Denny telling me what the weapon did now!”

“Wait, seriously?” Wyldstyle asked. “What’d it do?”

“I forgot not everyone knew. Oops.” Unikitty whispered.

Benny turned to address the group and Bad Cop took the opportunity to take a few steps back. “Originally a lot of Master Builders wanted it to be an actual weapon. Like point it at Bad Cop, fire, and blow a hole in his chest.” The cop was glad that hadn’t been the case, placing a hand to his chest and shivering at the thought. “But then everyone decided it would really give Business something to use against us if we actually killed someone. So Denny told me it got changed into something just as effective, but nowhere near as lethal.”

“So what exactly did it do?” Batman asked.

Benny grinned and turned his head to look back at the cop. “Since your weird inhuman strength was the biggest issue, they figured out how to remove that.”

Bad Cop frowned. “Y’made me weak?” It sounded too simple.

“Basically. And it looks like it worked really well too if you’re ready to fall over after a few minutes of cleaning.”

The group began to glance at each other with looks of understanding. It was a moment that Bad Cop realized how much trouble he was really in. Then he caught sight of Unikitty grinning slyly and he decided there was more to come. She said nothing though which didn’t help to quell his unease.

“Well now that we know he won’t be any real trouble we can go back to figuring out how to get into the tower.” Wyldstyle said with a burst of confidence. And with that said the group left the cop alone again, not even bothering to watch him this time.

He almost felt like throwing himself overboard.

With no one left to watch him, Bad Cop tossed the deck brush aside and sat down along the railing. He stared out at the open sea silently for a while before feeling a faint nudge from the back of his mind. Carefully he prodded mentally back at the feeling and tucked his face into the crook of an elbow propped up on the rope railing to hide the smile on his lips. 

“You alright, G?” he asked in a hushed voice.

 _“I’m alright.”_ came the soft reply. _“Just tired.”_

Bad Cop closed his eyes and leaned a bit more heavily against the railing. He was alone so he could afford to relax for just a minute. If he relaxed it helped his other half relax as well and he knew Good Cop needed it after the incident just days ago. 

They’d been summoned to Business’s relic room where they’d been berated for allowing The Special to get away for the second time. Good Cop had taken control to try to calm their boss, a strange power he seemed to have over the man, but that time it hadn’t helped at all. Business had gone into a rant that had boiled his blood and when he’d been touched he’d lashed out seemingly without thought. Good Cop had been pushed back into one of the relic pedestals and some sort of corrosive liquid had fallen on him from the vial balanced on top. It had taken off half of his face in an instant and his screams had turned the president from raging to terrified.

After that Bad Cop remembered having to be subdued by several robots in his panic to protect Good Cop. He’d been held down and eventually Business had ordered him to be sedated just so he could force him back to see Good Cop again. It became a bit of a blur once the needle had slid under his skin, but the next thing he’d known was waking in a bed in the medical wing with a nurse robot hovering and a guilty looking Business camped in a nearby chair. Apparently they’d both been under for several hours and their boss had used an incredibly rare and powerful one of a kind relic to fix the damage he’d caused.

Bad Cop wondered now how his other half would heal with this new strength drain he’d undergone. With any luck it wouldn’t cause Good Cop to take longer to recover. 

“Itchy fingers?”

The sudden voice had Bad Cop jolting up and his head whipped around to find Benny standing a few feet behind him. “Don’t sneak up on me like that.”

“You were zoning pretty deep there. I doubt I could’ve not snuck up on you.” Benny smiled innocently and raised a hand to point at the cop’s currently fidgeting hands. “Don’t break Metalbeard’s ship, whatever you do.”

“I’m not breaking anything, spaceman.” Even saying that Bad Cop turned his head back around to look down at his hands and felt some color draining from his face. The rope beneath his fingers was half undone, somehow pulled apart even in his weakened state, and it looked like he’d been somehow twisting it into a familiar shape. The strange part was that it was beginning to feel very much unlike rope in his hands.

He dropped the half finished thing and scrabbled away from the railing quickly.

Benny snorted in amusement and stepped over to fix the railing, taking a moment to examine the twisted section Bad Cop had been working on. The rough fiber looked like it had been turning smooth, though he couldn’t feel for himself through his gloves, and the light brown color had slowly been turning a steely gray. It was well made for only being half done. In mere seconds though he had it turned back into a solid piece of rope and reattached it to the rest.

When he turned to look back at the other his expression went to one of concern. Bad Cop’s head was tilted downward and fixed on his open palms. Benny was sure if he could see the man’s eyes he might find fear in them. “Bad Cop?”

“Tell me I didn’t just do what I think I did.” The cop’s voice was full of quiet terror. 

Unfortunately Benny couldn’t lie to him, even as frightened as he appeared. “You kinda did.”

A pained sounding wheeze left the cop as he nearly collapsed, falling hard on his knees with a thunk that made the astronaut wince. He folded forward and clutched his helmeted head between both hands then began to murmur to himself too quietly to really be heard. After a second his entire body started to tremble. Benny moved closer and lay a hand on the cop’s back, flinching when Bad Cop jerked away from the touch. Instead of recoiling though Benny’s hand made it back onto the cop’s shoulder and he squeezed lightly.

“It’s not a bad thing, Bad Cop.” the astronaut said softly. 

“Yes it is! Don’t y’get it?” Bad Cop’s head turned to look up at the other and Benny could see the pain on his face even with the dark glasses in the way. “You’ve turned me int’th’one thing that President Business is seeking to get rid of! Th’one thing that could ruin his careful plans! How can I be useful t’him now if I’m one of th’enemy?”

“Dude.” Benny’s face curled as if he’d bitten a particularly bitter lemon. “No offence? But that’s kind of what we were going for.”

“...what?”

“It’s another effect of the weapon we hit you with.” Benny shrugged. “We figured maybe Business wouldn’t wanna keep you around anymore if you were too weak to fight, but on the off chance that he did we figured unlocking your potential would make him get rid of you. But, I mean, if you really expect him to throw you away now why don’t you side with us? We could use someone from the inside.”

“And betray President Business?” Bad Cop spat. “Never.”

Again the astronaut shrugged. He took back his hand and turned to walk away. “That’s on you then.”

And in the dying light of day Bad Cop found himself alone once more.

\---

Emmet found him in the morning splayed out across the deck.

The construction worker had jogged over to the downed man and had shaken him awake, expressing concern over the fact that he’d slept outside.

“You could’ve gotten sick in the cold or slid under the railing!” he’d cried.

Then he’d been surprised when, instead of dark shades pointing toward him when the cop’s head turned to face him, a pair of large rounded glasses appeared. 

“Oh!” Emmet smiled. “Good Cop!”

“Please be quiet, Emmet.” Good Cop sat up and slid his glasses into their proper place from where they’d been sliding down his face. “Bad Cop’s finally resting and I’ve got a bit of a headache.”

“Sorry. Are you guys okay?”

Good Cop hummed and shrugged one shoulder. “Not really, but thank you for asking.”

For a moment there was blissful silence with only gentle ocean waves for sound. It made Good Cop’s stomach queasy. Maybe that was from a lack of having anything to eat lately along with Bad Cop’s nausea from the day before. Before he could think about why exactly he felt sick, Emmet spoke up again. “What’s wrong? Can I help in any way?”

Good Cop stared at him quietly for a moment. He was already trapped on the ship and Emmet seemed the least harmful of any of the group despite having the Piece of Resistance and being the so-called Special. Would there really be any harm asking him for help? Good Cop wasn’t sure, but he offered a smile all the same.

“I don’t suppose I could get something to eat?”

“Oh my gosh, that’s right! No one invited you to dinner last night!” Emmet looked absolutely horrified. “I’m so sorry, Good Cop!”

“Oh, well, that’s alright.”

“Come on! I’ll take you down to get something. Everyone’s actually finishing with breakfast right now and there’s plenty left over!”

All eyes were on them the instant the door to the dining area opened and Good Cop tried not to show the nervousness he suddenly felt. Instead he put on his friendliest smile and raised a hand to wave at the small crowd. “Hi, everybody.”

Glances were shared among the Master Builders and he watched Wyldstyle lean in close to Batman in order to whisper to him. They all seemed somewhat surprised, but that wasn’t out of the ordinary. Very few Master Builders had ever seen, let alone met, Good Cop and he was sure even fewer knew of his existence at all. His other half was always fronting when it came to the enemy. He was the face for law abiding civilians and when interrogations needed a lighter hand.

He wasn’t left waiting in the doorway for longer than a minute before Emmet nudged him and started toward one of the rickety looking tables that made up the place. Good Cop was quick to follow and sat himself down with his back to the rest of the group. Bad Cop wouldn’t have approved of the seating, but he was still snoozing in the back of their shared mindspace. And with the stares on his back and not on his face Good Cop only had to endure being watched by the one other person at the table, though at least the astronaut looked more interested in the bacon on his plate versus the cop.

There were small plates of various meats both dried and salted, dried fruits, pickled vegetables, and biscuits. There was also a jar of golden honey set beside the plate of biscuits and a few small dark bottles. When uncorked the smell of spiced rum wafted from them. Emmet pushed a plate toward him and Good Cop picked up a bit of everything, but steered clear of the rum bottles.

“Where’d you go last night?” Benny asked after chewing through a few bacon strips. “I thought you’d crash in the hammock again, but I didn’t see you when I checked this morning.”

Good Cop finished chewing his mouthful and swallowed before speaking. “Bad Cop passed out on the deck where you left him last night. He’s really very worried about... what happened.” He didn’t want to admit what had happened out loud any more than Bad Cop did. 

“Oh.” Benny looked uncomfortable at the thought of them sleeping outside on the deck. “Sorry. I should’ve checked on you again before going to sleep.”

“It’s fine. We’re alright.” In fact, Good Cop could feel some of his strength returning while he ate. Hopefully nausea wouldn’t bring it back up. “When do you think we’ll be able to get off this ship?”

“Not until we figure out a way into the tower where the Kragle is being kept.” Vitruvius said. He’d suddenly appeared beside the cop who jumped nearly off his chair. “Would you have any ideas as to how to get inside?”

Good Cop frowned slightly. “No?”

“I smell a liar~” Unikitty sang from halfway across the room.

“Look, I don’t know what you’re expecting of me.” Good Cop huffed and chewed on a dried apple slice. “Even if I knew a way for you to get in without immediate capture, do you really think I’d tell you just like that? Bad Cop and I may not have the strength to fight any of you right now, but we’re also not going to betray our boss. We’re not one of you. You’re all still our enemies. Sorry, but that’s how it is.”

Everyone was quiet for a while after Good Cop finished speaking. He turned back to his plate, but froze when he came face to face with a puppy-eyed Emmet.

“You don’t really think we’re enemies, do you?” he asked softly. 

“We...are though?” Good Cop wasn’t sure what the other was going for. 

“But we don’t have to be. I know you’re sort of stuck here and probably don’t want to be here in the first place, but everyone here is a good person. This is a safe place for you and Bad Cop.” Emmet smiled and motioned toward the group behind him, but Good Cop didn’t turn. He wouldn’t be swayed by nice words.

“I’m sorry, Emmet, but we can’t betray President Business to help Master Builders.”

“Ugh.” A sudden loud groan came from Wyldstyle and this time the cop did turn to face her. “What’s even the big deal with staying loyal to that creep? He’s such a jerk. He only cares about himself and he’s ready to destroy the entire world just for his stupid idea of perfection!”

“I’ll admit,” Good Cop began slowly, “his ideas aren’t the greatest. And, believe me, we’ve been trying to talk him out of using the Kragle. He’s just very cemented onto the idea and it’s taking time.”

“We could make sure he can’t use it by putting the Piece of Resistance on the Kragle though! We’ve got an entire plan for it!” Wyldstyle stood from her chair and stomped over to point a finger at the cop’s chest. “All we need is a way in!”

“And then what?”

She paused. “What do you mean ‘and then what’?”

“I mean exactly that. What will you do once you get inside? The top of the tower is filled with security and even if you managed to get past every robot there’s still the matter of actually getting to the Kragle. The only way to shut down the shield surrounding it is by two very specific voice commands. You’d all be captured before you even saw the Kragle.”

“All very good and valid points.” Vitruvius said, again popping up from nowhere to startle Good Cop. “But we have a secret weapon.”

For a moment Good Cop looked pained. “Please don’t tell me you’re going to say it’s the power of friendship.”

“Nope. It’s knockout gas.”

“What?”

Before Good Cop could even think about moving he found a bottle thrust toward his face and sputtered when a thick gas enveloped the air around him. Only seconds later he fell backward off of his chair, saved from hitting the ground by Benny diving to catch him. 

“Vitruvius!” Emmet cried in close to horror. “What did you do that for?”

The wizard turned with a knowing grin and tapped the end of his staff against the ground. “Because, my dear Emmet, we’re going to go inside his mind to understand his reasoning.”

“Dibs on second wheel!” Benny called out while he lay the cop out flat on the ground. “I’ve always wanted to know what makes these two tick!”

“Just remember to stay focused. We’ll have no idea what lays in store for us.” Vitruvius warned.

“Yeah.” Batman said. “Who knows what twisted things go on inside the mind of Business’s top goon.”

A round of chanting and dance-like movements between Vitruvius and Benny later, they found themselves blinking into an unfamiliar space. Rolling green grass covered as far as the eye could see and patches of multicolored wildflowers sprang up here and there. Off in the distance sat a cute little cottage surrounded by a white picket fence, smoke curling from the chimney.

“Uh...” Benny stared at the landscape in total confusion. “Did we enter the right mind? Are you sure we didn’t jump into Emmet’s by mistake?”

“No, no. I’ve been inside Emmet’s mindscape. It’s very empty.” Vitruvius said while walking toward the cottage.

Benny floated behind the wizard and reached out a hand to brush against some of the flowers while they passed by. “So since Good Cop’s knocked out he won’t be in here to stop us from poking around, right?”

“That’s right. We’ll have a while to ourselves to find clues as to why he’s so adamant on refusing to help us.”

“So... Who’s that in the doorway?”

The two stopped instantly. Or, rather, Vitruvius stopped and Benny bumped into his back. “There shouldn’t be anyone there. Are you sure there’s someone there?”

“Uh, pretty sure.”

Suddenly the figure in the doorway wasn’t just standing there. They vaulted the fence and headed toward the two at a run, showing no sign of slowing down.

“It’s Bad Cop!” Benny squeaked the instant he realized who it was.

“Oh.” Vitruvius said without worry. “I forgot about the double conscience thing.”

“Get out of my head!” Bad Cop snarled as he neared. His fist swung out toward the wizard once he’d gotten close, but Vitruvius countered with a quick movement of his staff. Each punch thrown was smacked harmlessly away until the cop was openly snarling and throwing his body weight around. Benny didn’t dare get involved, not wanting to break up the flow of the fight.

Eventually Vitruvius lashed out a final time and nailed Bad Cop on the top of his head. In the mindscape he wore no helmet and without it to protect him the cop stumbled back, hands clutching his head, and groaned. After a moment he looked up and bared his teeth at them.

“Are you finished or should I hit you again?” Vitruvius asked in amusement.

“Get out.” Bad Cop growled. “There’s nothing for y’here.”

“Oh, but there is. We just need to find out why you two refuse to help us stop Lord Business.” Vitruvius explained. “Simple as that.”

The cop snorted and stood, crossing his arms. “I’ll tell y’why. We’re enemies. We don’t need any other reason not t’help.”

“Hmm. No, that’s not it.”

His anger melted for a minute into stunned silence, then he was back to frowning. “Poke around for answers y’won’t find then. But stay away from my house.”

“Oh. Well then that’s definitely where we’ll find our clues. Come along, Benjamin.”

Bad Cop sputtered as the two walked right past him. Quickly he turned and jogged to catch up, passed them, and stood in the doorway with his arms outstretched. “You’re not getting in here and that’s final!”

Vitruvius raised his staff and Bad Cop, cursing to himself, ducked in anticipation of a hit that didn’t come. Instead the green gem at the end of the staff jabbed his side and caused him to jump. “I can stand here all day poking you until you move. It’s actually incredibly fun.” A few more jabs had Bad Cop jerking away with a startled laugh though- a ticklish spot on his ribs poked. Vitruvius, of course, used that to his advantage and continued attacking until the other had been pushed backward past the doorway.

“Aw, this place is so cute!” Benny chirped once he’d wriggled past the wizard.

“Don’t touch anything!” Bad Cop snapped. He eyed the now still staff and had both arms clamped around his ribs in an effort to protect them from being prodded further.

Benny, however, dismissed the command with a raised brow. “Why not?” Before Bad Cop could tell him why he’d reached out to a small picture frame sitting on a corner table and wrapped his hand around it to pick it up. Instantly he got a strong tugging sensation and gasped.

_“Oh dear. It’s blurred again.” Ma said in disappointment. “One at a time please, dears.”_

_“Sorry, Ma.”_

_“Sorry, Mommy. We’re just excited, is all.”_

_“We know ya are, boys, but just be patient.” Pa told them gently._

_“Alright now.” Ma raised the camera again and pointed it toward them. “One, two, three!” A flash and a click. “Now switch. And one, two three!” Another snapshot._

_“How do they look this time, Ma?”_

_“Oh, they turned out wonderful this time. As soon as the film’s developed we’ll frame them together.”_

Benny blinked back to the present and took a look at the frame in his hand. Two photos had been carefully folded and put together, almost looking like one. In them stood young versions of Good Cop and Bad Cop. “What just happened?” He looked up to find Bad Cop clutching his head again which he took to mean that Vitruvius had smacked him again. 

“You touched a memory piece.” the wizard said. “At the heart of everyone’s mindscape they hold various pieces that trigger strong emotional or important memories from their lives. And that’s what we’re looking for. For as loyal as these two seem, there must be a memory tied to that loyalty to Business.”

“No,” Bad Cop snapped, “you’ll do no such thing! Y’won’t touch anything else. You’ll leave right now if y’know what’s good for you!”

“Wow. Good thing I’ve never been good at listening to authority!” Benny laughed as he zipped into the air and out of reach, looking around for anything that might be holding a memory. Nothing really stood out so he darted up a flight of stairs and into the first open doorway he came across. Inside was a clean bedroom and Benny curiously touched an officer’s badge.

_“This is your badge, Pa.” a teenage Good Cop said, smiling in wonder at the shiny object in his hand._

_“That it is.” Pa said with a small smile of his own. “And someday you’ll have your own.”_

_“We’ll make you and Ma proud, Pa.”_

_“I know y’will, son.”_

“Aw...” Benny smiled and set the badge back down then continued to search.

He could hear fighting coming from downstairs then someone pounding up the stairs only to, by the sound of it, be pulled back down. Benny figured he should hurry so he left the bedroom and zipped into the next open door. Another bedroom, but this one strangely color coded. Mainly blacks and whites with splashes of reds and blue. If it wasn’t the cops’ room he’d eat his helmet. 

A few things lay on the bed in the center of the room and Benny glanced at an amalgamation of rope and handcuffs. He knew what memory it would hold before he touched it. It was the night he’d found the cop at the railing and the moment he’d realized that his potential had been unlocked. The memory was riddled with terror and Benny had come out of it clutching his chest as if _he’d_ had a bad reaction. With a shake of his head he glanced at the other items. An Octan application form stamped with a green “APPROVED”, a Super Secret Police badge, a photo of a beat up looking Bad Cop surrounded by shiny new looking robots, and a selfie photo of Good Cop and Business pressed up close where both of them were laughing in frame. He touched each item in turn and watched each memory.

By the last photo he decided he knew the answer.

He and Vitruvius jolted out of Bad Cop’s mindscape in a snap just as Good Cop began to wake from the knockout gas. Which he wasn’t happy about at all. But that didn’t matter because-

“I know now.” Benny said quietly, wide eyed staring at Good Cop with the most excited grin on his face.

Good Cop didn’t like the look of it. 

“If you help us, Good Cop, I swear you’ll be doing a good thing. It’s not going to mess with anything like you think. It’ll just stop Business from destroying the world.” the astronaut explained. “So, please, for everyone's’ sake. Even for Business’s sake before it’s too late! Help us save the world!”

The cop looked far too uncomfortable. He felt it too. Bad Cop wanted to butt in, but he gently held his other half back. “Do you lot honestly think you’ve got a chance at success?”

“Absolutely! And with you on our side there’s no way we can’t!”

Good Cop hummed. Everyone was watching him now, waiting for his answer that would make or break their plans. Despite being told otherwise, he still felt like he was betraying his boss when next he spoke. 

“Alright. I’ll help you get in. But first, we’re going to need to steal a delivery truck.”

\---

Bad Cop grumbled as he drove the delivery ship into the dock, stopping and glancing at the robot at the booth.

“Bad Cop!” the robot chirped. “Lord Business has been looking for you!”

“My ship crashed after leaving Cloud Cuckooland and a Master Builder managed to steal my radio so I couldn’t call for help. I’ll be sure to head straight to Lord Business’s office.”

“Good call, sir! Please proceed!”

The gate came up and Bad Cop flew smoothly into the docking hangar. There he motioned for the ragtag team hiding in the back to let them know they were in. “Y’ve got a few minutes before a patrol comes by t’check th’cargo. Make sure you’re not caught.” he warned. “I’ll head t’th’control room and disable the Kragle shields. Spaceman, you’re with me.”

With an excited giggle Benny took off with the cop. 

The control room was dominated by massive computers and several screens with the same digital face on each one. Bad Cop glanced at him as he eyed the electronics with a grin. 

“Let us handle this.” Bad Cop grumbled. Then suddenly Good Cop swapped in just as they neared the central area, raising his hand and waving at the screens.

“Hi, buddy!” he greeted cheerfully. 

The computer chirped and responded in a feminine voice. “Hello, Good Cop. How may I assist you today?”

“I know it’s a tall order, but could you please disable the shield system?”

“Understood. Please confirm.”

Bad Cop then switched in. “Confirming order. Disable shield system.”

“Certainly, Bad Cop. Disabling shield.”

Now that that was done he turned toward Benny and held out a hand. “Y’have my blaster. I need it back now.”

Benny was reluctant, but held it out after a solid minute. Thankfully the cop didn’t try to shoot at him. 

“Th’rest is up t’you and your team. Good Luck, spaceman.”

“Wait,” Benny reached out to stop Bad Cop from passing him, “where are you going?”

“Where else?” Bad Cop shrugged off the hand and continued toward the door. “I have Business to attend to.”

\---

“Bad Cop!” Business shouted as the doors to his office burst open. “Where have you been? Not one robot could tell me where you went! And you’ve been missing for days!”

“Sorry, Sir. I got a little in over my head and my radio was taken.” Bad Cop responded. 

The president raised a brow skeptically and scoffed. “You? In over your head? Please. What happened?”

He paused. There were two options here: make something up or tell the truth. Which would land him in hotter water was hard to tell. So he decided to go with the easier route.

“The Master Builders had a secret weapon specifically geared toward myself and Good Cop. I regret t’inform y’that I took a direct hit from it and no longer have any strength, Sir.” He fidgeted slightly after confessing as he waited for his boss to react.

Business, for the most part, looked surprised. Then he frowned, but not entirely in anger. “You don’t have any strength? Not even a little?”

“No, Sir. I almost collapsed after light strenuous activity.”

The president’s frown deepened and he stared at Bad Cop with a calculating glint in his eyes. “What kind of light strenuous activity?”

“Scrubbing a deck, Sir.”

“Why were you on a deck?”

“I was knocked out and kidnapped by a ragtag group of Master Builders who ended up on a pirate ship. I was tasked with working or being sent overboard.” Why was he telling Business this? Shouldn’t he have been making something up to cover for the group currently roaming Octan’s halls?

“So... How did you escape the ship?”

Bad Cop could feel his other half trying to push for control, but he kept Good Cop at bay. Why, he wasn’t sure. “I was let go under the condition that I report back t’you immediately.”

“And why is that?” Business looked genuinely curious now. He was smart enough to know that a Master Builder wouldn’t willingly let their greatest enemy loose just like that.

“Because,” Bad Cop paused for a single second and ignored how his other half tried to make him stop, “they needed a way into th’tower.”

Slowly Business’s eyes widened as the information sunk in. He stared at the cop as if the man were some stranger who’d just confessed to coming to kill him. “You brought them here.”

“Yes, Sir.”

“I _trusted_ you!”

“I know y’did, Sir.”

“Yeah? You did, huh?” Business’s expression was suddenly rage and Bad Cop took a step back. This was where he knew it got dangerous. “Well you also know what happens to people who betray me, don’t you?”

Then the flooring snapped open and Business was quickly boosted over the cop on his terrifyingly tall boots. A claw from the ceiling descended to adorn him with his tie shaped cape, pauldrons, and horned helmet. Bad Cop turned to run, but the added height made it easier for Business to catch him as he could outpace the other. In mere moments the cop was dangling from Business’s grip and he gasped as they turned toward the tower windows.

“You’ll have to let me know what’s at the bottom of the infinite abyss, Bad Cop.” Business said with sugar coated venom dripping from his words. “Oh, wait, you won’t be able to! My mistake!”

Bad Cop needed to think quick. In no time at all they’d reached the windows and a swift kick from the president caused the glass to shatter. He found himself dangling above the long fall, the terrifying multi-colored swirl of dread far below.

“Any last words?” Business prompted.

In an instant Good Cop took control and faced Business with wide terrified eyes. “Please don’t do this, Sir!”

For a moment Business faltered. The anger in his face was cut through with worry in such a quick change that Good Cop wondered how he didn’t get whiplash.

“I didn’t... I didn’t want to have to do this, Good Cop.” Business said, voice a bit softer.

“Then don’t. Please don’t.” Good Cop pleaded. “You don’t have to let go, Sir. We can fix this. Together.”

Then the tower began to shake and Business turned his head to look back toward the doors. The room around him was bathed in blinking red light and a computer alerted him that the Kragle had been neutralized. The president’s eyes went wide, his jaw dropped, and his head turned back to the cop dangling in his grip. His eyes held betrayal, fury, then they closed and his jaw clenched. When they opened a moment later there was a resigned look in them.

“That’s it then. All my plans, gone. I’ll have to start all over now.” He chuckled and extended his arm further, boosting Good Cop by a few inches. “Too bad you two won’t be around to help.”

And just like that his grip loosened and Good Cop began to fall.

Windows flashed by as he fell and the wind whipped past his ears until it was all he could hear. Even with death as a looming factor, he wasn’t ready to give up.

He grabbed his blaster in a tight grip then whipped out a pair of handcuffs. His hands moved faster than he thought possible and Good Cop grinned as his creation came together. It came up, he aimed, and squeezed the trigger. Suddenly his fall was broken and he was swinging toward a window, head ducked down to ram right through it thanks to his helmet. Then he retracted the hook on his new grappling hook and attached it to his hip.

“Maybe that _is_ a handy skill.” he muttered with a quiet chuckle.

Suddenly his focus became razor sharp and he started tearing apart the room, quite literally. Filing cabinets were ransacked, chairs were demolished, and an unfortunate robot who got too close was torn apart in Good Cop’s building frenzy. Minutes later he jumped from the shattered window, this time rocketing upward on a pair of mechanical wings.

“President Business!” he shouted out upon touching down inside the office. 

Business turned with wide eyes. He’d been standing outside the doors giving orders to a group of robots, and actually backed away at the sight of the cop. It looked ridiculous while he still wore his boots and helmet, to cower away from a smaller man. “Good Cop? You’re... You’re...”

“A Master Builder?” Good Cop supplied. He smiled and nodded his head once.

“That can’t be! You can’t be a Master Builder! I forbid it!”

Good Cop couldn’t help chuckling at the outburst. “I’m afraid you can’ t make that call, Sir.”

Business still looked wary, but suddenly he was quickly making his way toward the cop. “Then I’ll just have to destroy you like any other Master Builder!”

But Good Cop wasn’t about to allow that.

When Business raised a massive boot and brought it down with the intent to crush the other, Good Cop simply resisted. In a motion that suddenly felt _right_ he raised a hand to the boot and simply flicked a spot that showed weakness. The entire lower half of that boot was at once in pieces at Good Cop’s feet. And Business, overbalanced, toppled forward with a shout.

Good Cop caught him before he hit the ground, of course.

“Let me go!” Business fussed. His helmet got the same treatment as the boot when one horn came dangerously close to taking Good Cop’s eye out. The loss of it froze the president and his eyes slowly locked onto Good Cop’s.

“President Business,” Good Cop began, “your plan to freeze the world is over with. The Kragle is no more. Please stop while you have the chance.”

“But I-”

“No buts!” Suddenly Bad Cop had switched in to loom over the man still trapped in his arms. “We’re giving you an out that doesn’t involve facing th’wrath of everyone down in th’Think Tank. I’d take it if I were you.”

Then Good Cop was back in control. “Please, Sir. You don’t have to be this way. You can make amends with everyone now. Move on and do better. You’re a good person deep down.”

Business’s face scrunched up. “How can you say that after everything I’ve done?” There was an unspoken ‘to you’ there that didn’t need to be said aloud.

“Because I know it’s true.” Good Cop smiled. “You’re the man who gave Bad Cop and I a job despite our flaws when no one else would hire us for them. You’re the man who gave us our own robotic team when Bad Cop did nothing more than comment about how hard it was getting balancing physical work and paperwork. You’re the man who used up one of his most favored relics, the only one of its kind, to save me when my face literally melted off.” He chuckled softly and shook his head. “You’re a good person, Sir. And I’m not willing to give up on you.”

The two stared at each other for a few brief seconds before Business’s face scrunched further and he flung himself at Good Cop, wrapping his arms tightly around the cop’s neck and burying his face against the other’s chest. Good Cop rubbed comforting circles over his boss’s back while the man’s shoulders hitched with shaking sobs.

“There, there, buddy...” he soothed. “Everything’s going to be alright...”

\---

The days following were shaky at best, but the Master Builders seemed to harbor no real grudge. The Kragle was disarmed and everyone freed and that was all they truly cared about. Learning that the cops had become one of them had had mixed reactions, but in the end they’d decided that a celebration party was the best idea for it. Celebrations seemed to be their go-to reaction, but no one was complaining. They’d even whipped together a “welcome to being a Master Builder” present in the form of a rebuilt version of the secret weapon they’d used against him- this one reversing the strength draining and giving it back.

Bad Cop had celebrated by booting no less than four chairs across a field while shouting in joy.

Business was greeted tentatively, but not entirely unkindly. Having Good Cop around him helped others to see him in a kinder light at least. That, and the fact that he genuinely tried to help those he’d wronged over the years. It gave the Master Builders a good laugh when he tried to help build something only to end up with a chair with legs poking in all different directions. Building definitely wasn’t for him, but he was trying.

Good Cop knew things wouldn’t magically get better overnight and it might be years still before they were fully trusted and forgiven. But as he glanced down at where his and Business’s hands were intertwined, the former president smiling happily like he hadn’t done in years, he decided that he could roll with whatever came their way.

He had hope for the future now.

**Author's Note:**

> It's a headcanon of mine that a mindscape can hold items made from emotions. When touched, these items can allow one to relive those memories.
> 
> Also implied Good Business there at the end, but I didn't feel it was enough to need a shipping tag.


End file.
